Up-front planning to save the basil

My hands smell like basil today, no matter how much I scrub them.

I like basil but not this much.

This year I started a lot of different seeds so I would always have something growing. I started a small tray of basil that ended up with about 70 seedlings and a dozen plants (after tossing and giving a bunch away).

Those dozen plants started growing larger and larger. I slacked off with harvesting until today when I noticed they were getting ready to flower.

Which meant our neighbor got a bucket full of basil today and my hands smell like a pesto experiment gone awry.

Luckily, early in the season I made a plan with our neighbor that they'll take many of our extras. They benefit and I'm happy to know it'll get used.

If you hold inventory in your store, knowing when and how you'll get rid of any excess product is important. You might have a closeout sale, return it to the supplier, or sell it to an inventory liquidator.

Eventually, even the best products will fade from the limelight and become a drag on your finances. Having a plan is the first step to ease that drag. (The second step is to watch various product metrics like the ones Repeat Customer Insights collects to know when to end a product)

Whatever you do, don't wait too long to decide. You might end up with basil-hands.

Eric Davis

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Topics: Planning

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